Americas
* AIM-9X missiles fired from the US Army’s new Multi-Mission Launcher has defeated a cruise missile and an unmanned aerial system (UAS). The tests conducted on April 1 and March 29 respectively were part of an engineering demonstration of the Indirect Fire Protection Capability Increment 2-Intercept (IFPC Inc 2-I). Other missiles capable of being fired from the system include the Miniature Hit-to-Kill (MHTK) missile, Raytheon’s Stinger, and Lockheed Martin’s Longbow Hellfire missiles, although the last two have yet to been tested rigorously. The IFPC Inc. 2-I is intended to defeat UAS, cruise missiles, rockets, artillery, and mortars, and so far $119 million has been spent on developing prototypes for the system, a figure believed to be three times higher if developed outside the Army.
* Last Friday saw SpaceX successfully land a first-stage Falcon 9 rocket on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. This is the second time SpaceX has successfully landed a rocket back on earth after putting a payload in space, but the first such landing on an ocean-going barge. An earlier attempt at a similar landing failed last December when the first stage rocket tipped over and exploded. Friday’s flight saw the Falcon 9 deliver cargo to the International Space Station.
* The Royal Canadian Navy has fired its Harpoon Block II anti-ship missile at a shore-based target for the first time. The launches were a part of a Joint Littoral Training Exercise (JoLTEX) recently completed by the RCN at a United States Navy missile firing range off the coast of California. Adding the Harpoon capabilities to its frigates symbolizes a significant step toward reinstituting a crucial RCN capability that will support the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) and its allies’ combat operations ashore.
* On April 6, Venezuela inducted nine of its new Hongdu K-8W into service, and was followed three days later by the delivery of three more of the Chinese made jet trainers. The ceremony was overseen by Minister for Defense Vladimir Padrino López. Air Force Commander Major General Edgar Valentín Cruz Arteaga said that the aircraft have sophisticated systems that allow the Aviacion Militar Bolivariana (AMB) to perform advanced training for pilots as well as operations against organized crime and drug trafficking, which will contribute to the protection of native skies.
Middle East North Africa
* Turkey is to launch its own space agency within the next three months based in the Kazan township near Ankara. The agency will be tasked with coordinating all of Turkey’s space and aerospace programs, including satellite technology, satellite launching systems, space stations, and deep space research. Ankara is also working on plans to build a satellite-launching station with Datca on Turkey’s southwestern coast and the breakaway Turkish part of northern Cyprus as potential locations.
Europe
* e2v has been awarded a contract by Saab to supply Microwave Power Modules (MPM), a lightweight transmitter designed for use by fighter jets and other airborne platforms. Each MPM system is comprised of a helix traveling-wave tube (TWT), an electronic power conditioner (EPC) and a solid state amplifier (SSA) in a single package, and can deliver medium output power up to Ku-band. They are designed to provide both pulsed and continuous-wave modes of operation in an ultra-compact miniature size, with a weight minimised for airborne applications. Internally, the use of integrated high frequency magnetics, with integral isolation and multilayer flexi-rigid printed board construction, minimizes interconnects, reduces size, and increases reliability.
* As Norway continues its search for a cooperation partner for its submarine procurement, it has narrowed down the manufacturers who will carry out the task. The yards shortlisted by Oslo are France’s DCNS and Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). Both companies have worked with and supplied systems to the Norwegian Navy over the last number of decades. While several other submarine yards, including Saab’s Kockums yard in Sweden had also applied, they lost out to Western Europe’s two largest submarine manufacturers.
Asia Pacific
* Newspaper The Indian Express has reported that a K-4 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) was secretly launched by the Indian Navy’s SSBN INS Arihant on March 31. The maiden test of the undersea missile was conducted at an undisclosed location in the Bay of Bengal, and follows a test earlier in March of the missile from a submerged pontoon. Once the K-4 is inducted into service, it will the arm another Arihant class submarine, INS Aridhaman, currently under construction along with two others. Each submarine will have eight launch tubes.
Today’s Video
* SpaceX’s Falcon 9 ocean landing:
